


The Free Time from Hell

by DigiConjurer



Series: The unsorted adventures of Princess Byleth and the Black Eagles [18]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amiibo (Nintendo), Cultural References, F/F, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route Spoilers, Flashbacks, In-universe unlockables, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), chapter 2, sequence breaking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-11-28 16:10:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20969345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigiConjurer/pseuds/DigiConjurer
Summary: Second Free Time. A day so hellish, that not a single story segment could hold it in. Surely, such a day can be conquerored, right?





	1. Probably shouldn't have done that

I don’t own fire emblem.

* * *

The rest of the week was surprisingly mellow. Sure, most of Byleth’s students had to spend it in detention, but that’s the price you pay for raiding another classroom.

“Wakey wakey.”

Byleth’s eyelids sprung open. Sothis stood before her, 3DS closed for the moment.

“What do you need, Sothis?” the professor greeted, sitting herself up and focused on her child.

“I was told to wake you up.” Sothis answered, Byleth bolting right out of her bed and into the bathroom. “Something about you getting started early on this.”

Byleth walked back out, now adorned in her armor. Attention back on Sothis, she motioned for her to follow.

“You coming with me this time?” she remarked, getting a shrug. Followed by the child holding up the 3DS. “I’ll take that as a yes then?”

Sothis short her guardian a look. Why did she have to be so dense at times? This wasn’t rocket science. Just having a day off. Except this was the supposed ‘day-off from hell’ or whatever it was supposed to be called. Byleth grabbed the amiibo she bought off Anna and dropped two pastries into the toaster. Good enough of a breakfast for today. Next time, eggs and bacon. Maybe. Depended on her getting up early enough to get that all made before heading out. 

Nonetheless, the pastries shot up and she grabbed hold. Handing one off to Sothis, they head out the door. Which locked on them.

professor and child headed out the door. Outside, was Jeralt of all people. Decked out in his armor, he seemed… content.

“Hey. Been a while.” Jeralt greeted, getting a nod from his daughter. “How has it been going?”

Byleth looked away. She had no way to really gauge how much of Monday’s incident reached him. Considering how much damage Raphael had caused, it was almost a guarantee that her father had heard about it.

"Outside of Bernadetta's personal mess and not having a classroom at the moment, quite great." the professor answered and got a chuckle in return. Not the answer I was expecting. Though, maybe that's the result of Corrin.

"That's good to hear." her father remarked, digging into his pockets. He came up empty. "I need you to go to my office and grab the tactics primer."

Byleth nodded, waiting for her father to go. He didn't. So she took a deep breath and brought her map out. She pointed to the mess hall, drone coming on down for both her and Sothis.

"Ow." Sothis muttered, not all happy with where her drone grabbed her. Not that Byleth was paying attention at the moment. No, she was more focused on looking around the monastery. The city surrounding around it shined brightly. Maybe some other day, she could go and check it out.

“That looks like the place.” she whispered, the drones landing down at the mess hall. But that isn’t where Byleth goes at the moment. No, she was on her way to that strange shrine thing. Sothis followed right behind. Still not on her 3DS though.

“Did you beat the knight?” Byleth remarked, getting a nod in return. After, Sothis pumped her chest out. More cute than boasting. Especially since was right back to playing on the device at the moment. So Byleth began her walk toward her destination. She did make sure that her companion was keeping up. Sothis was. Somehow.

“So why are we coming over here, exactly?”

Byleth didn’t answer, digging out the Lucina amiibo as what looked to be a capsule machine came into view. That can’t be right. My notes say that the thing should be a gazebo. This must be some strange result of that weird time rewind thing you did a while back. Has to be.

Though, there does appear to include a spot for the amiibo. Byleth made her way over, sliding the statuette in. A slight twist followed, more green spheres appearing on the ground. Uh… okay. Lots of tea and these weird ‘seal’ things. Might need to check into that.

**You may now play play Conquest (Ablaze) in your head whenever you want!**

Uh, how the hell is that a benefit? Sure, have a tune stuck in your head is a double-edged sword and all. But I feel like having so-

A hatch opened under the pair’s feet, dropping them into a small fenced off balcony. Except, there was a second Sothis standing motionless.

“Sothis, you still here?” Byleth remarked, getting a pinch from the child as she pulled her over. A groan followed. 

“Yes.” Sothis muttered, her guardian’s attention shifting back to this strange enigma for the moment. “So, have anything to say for yourself other-me?”

The other Sothis didn’t answer. Instead, she just stared at the pair. Guess this is a regular occurence.

“It is not quite time yet.” the other Sothis finally announced, not even breaking her gaze as Byleth scooped up more of these strange orbs. I guess those are supposed to be capsules? Sure. That’s what I’m calling them from now on. Lot of the same and all. Just one small problem. There isn’t a real way to get out of here. Outside of taking a leap of faith down to the mausoleum below. So our heroine motioned for her ‘child’ to come over.

“I need you to hold on.” she whispered, feeling Sothis jump aboard her back for the moment. Byleth then made her way towards the edge of this strange balcony and jumped. Free falling down, she somehow managed to stick the landing. Even if her whole did now feel like it got punched a few dozen times in the process.

“You alright?” Sothis whispered, getting a thumbs up. Her gaze shifted away, only for feelings of dread to invade her mind. Something about the coffin at the far end of the room seemed to both call out to her and yet, go out of its inanimate way to keep her at bay. Somehow. Pretty sure that’s a double negative going on here. “Uh… could you check out that coffin over there?”

Her guardian nodded, not even batting an eye when Sothis returned to the 3DS once more. Nonetheless, Byleth made her way over to the coffin. Tipping the lid forward slightly, she did a double take.

A strange sword sat in the coffin, the only sign of someone’s existence. Okay, maybe not.

You have found yourself the sword of the creator! Might want to keep that a secret for now.

Thanks obnoxious subtitles. Being real helpful here.

“Is this what’s freaking you out?” Byleth remarked, holding the sword up. Sothis’s gaze shifted away from the 3DS for about a second and froze.

‘You look quite a catch.’

The sound of a blade piercing through her stomach echoed through her mind, memories of that day running on repeat in her mind. It hurt just a little bit more each time. Reminding her of what had been.

“Sothis?”

Her gaze snapped over to Byleth, her mind set at ease. The pain still remained though as she was picked back up.

“I’m alright…” Sothis muttered, accepting the gesture. They headed for the exit, taking the stairs two at a time till they reached the top.


	2. The 'Pants' Situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth does a couple little things and one big thing. Can't you feel the love though?

I don't own fire emblem.

* * *

“Let me get this straight.” Alois remarked, unsure of how to really react. “You two got buried in the mausoleum?”

In retrospect, the slap that followed for such an awful joke was quite justified. Except for the fact that he did have a point in that moment. You two just stole a possibly valuable artifact and just think you’ll get off scot free? Ha!

“Yeah. You also have an infestation by way of one green-haired goblin.” Byleth added, getting a look from Sothis. A chuckle was all she got in return. "Might want to have someone check that out."

Alois shot the pair a look, shrugging as Byleth and Sothis headed off. Didn't get too far though. Mostly because another one of the academy's old ladies waved Byleth down. 

"Ms Eisner, could you do me a favor?" she called out, Byleth coming to a stop. Turning around, the professor walked back over.

"Uh… sure." she remarked, finding a stack of flyers in her hands. Simple in design, just a cyan background with musical note-shaped letters. A little singer (a songstress perhaps?) sings all alone, with spots for other members to boot. “Any place in particular?”

The quest giver looked away, map coming out. Never good. Prepare for the worse, Byleth. This could go just about anywhere.

“I would like you to check this out with your students.”

Huh… not quite what I was expecting here. Oh well. Least they can fast travel back over when they get the chance. Does help that the dorms aren’t that far away. Either option could work here. 

“We’ll make it happen.” Byleth explained, Sothis copying her for the moment. Their map comes on out, a quick point to the apartments following. Of course, things weren’t that simple. Mostly because both of our heroines have just slammed into the gate of the church itself. Which, Ow. That had to have left a mark.

“Let me heal you.” a voice announced, a blue-haired girl making her way over. Once there, she holds her hands over them. Doesn’t explain the scars on the wrists. The service offered is second-to-none.

"Thank you." Byleth remarked, getting a nod from the girl as the door pulled up. The drones headed off once more, delivering our pair at the apartments. “Now what?”

Bending down, an already signed sheet awaited the pair. Kind of makes this errand irrelevant. “Huh.”

Taking a deep breath, the professor picked up the paper. Which came right as her phone went off. Pulling the device out, she had to do a double take - Petra. While sure, she seemed to be the least technologically savvy of her students, but here she was manning a phone.

“Yes, Petra?” she announced, waiting for a response on the other end. Though, she did catch a bit of Mercedes.

“Oh Professor!” Petra answered, taking a deep breath. “How do I give someone my number?”  
Byleth took a deep breath. Not quite the question she had expected to be asked in this moment. Probably something involving a far more nefarious word and/or phrase.

“Go to you contacts and click the one labeled ‘Petra’.” Byleth explained, shooting Sothis a look. While she was snickering at the moment, that promptly came to a stop. Though, I sometimes can’t operate a ‘smartphone’ to save my life either. Guess that puts me in the same boat as Petra here. Kinda.

“Oh…. That’s how it works.” Petra answered, the sound of a slight head pat echoing through the phone. “Thank you!”

Byleth hung up, letting out a deep breath right after. That had gone a heck of a lot better then she was expecting it to go. Hopefully, she had gotten the message.

Slipping the phone back into her pocket, we find ourselves at an impasse. On one hand, our pair could go right back to the choir lady and hand in the sign-in sheet. Or they cou-

Our heroine made her decision, heading right down the line of the apartments until she came to one in particular.

“Bernadetta?” she greeted, knocking on the door. The person on the other side shifted about, almost tripping on something.

“Uh… no one’s here!” Bernadetta announced, what sounded like papers falling over following her statement for the moment. She at least doing better. But that’s more subjective observation when you have a door between both people and can’t really see them. “Though, Dorothea was air-drying her laundry. Maybe you can go help her with that?”

Cheeks turning red, Byleth was already heading off. Should’ve asked where she even was in the first place. Or how a large stuffed bear managed to find its way out of her pockets. Sothis grabbed it. Did mean putting up her 3DS for the moment.

“Stupid time mage.” she muttered, trying her best to keep up with her guardian at the moment. Which wasn’t so easy with the large weighted bear in her arms. Could be counterbalanced by being able to float.

Thankfully, Dorothea wasn’t that hard to find.

“Professor!” she greeted, looking all about as Byleth approached. “You’ve seemed to have caught me at a less than ideal time.”

Byleth gave her a confused look, providing more than enough time for Sothis to catch up and deposit the teddy bear on the ground. 

“Is this for me?” 

Byleth nodded, cheeks on fire. She didn’t even know how the heck that bear got into her pockets in the first place. Ghosts. Though, that little box with Dorothea’s face and the hearts is an… interesting touch. Kind of obnoxious touch.

“So what seems to be the problem at the moment?” the professor inquired, her ‘girlfriend’ taking a deep breath.

“While I was drying my ‘pants’, a pair got caught by the wind and were blown off.” Dorothea continued, bear now in her skirt. Laws of physics definitely getting violated here in ways you wouldn’t believe at the moment. “Do you think you could help me… find them.”

Byleth’s face went even redder, little in the way of hiding it for the moment. As requests went, this was a new one.

“Sure.” she answered, getting a look from Sothis in return. “Do you have any idea where they may have flew off too?”

Dorothea nodded, grabbing hold of Byleth’s hand and pulling her along. Sothis kept up with them, mostly so they wouldn’t do anything nefarious. Just in case, even if such a possibility was highly unlikely.

“It was probably somewhere around here.” the singer explained, gaze circling all about at the moment.

“Have you looked in there?” Byleth inquired, pointing to a nearby doorway. Dorothea shook her head. “Do you want to come with me?”

A nod and the pair made their way over, pushing the door open. Inside, the place looked to be some kind of miniature arena. Which brought with it, Caspar and *sigh* Claude.

“What can I do for you?” Claude remarked, the titular pants in hand. I think you can see where this is going. “Oh. Are these your girlfriend’s?”

“Yes.” Byleth remarked, getting a look from Dorothea in that moment. With her focus solely on the house leader for the Golden Deer, she hadn’t noticed that look. “Could I have them back, please.”

A smile formed on Claude’s face. Yet, the goods were handed over.

“I wouldn’t get too comfortable.” he remarked as he walked away. Seemed to be humming a tune I don’t quite recognize. “Might want to gaze out on the stars tonight.”

Okay…

Nonetheless, Byleth handed over the ‘pants’ to her girlfriend.

“Thank you.” Dorothea whispered, cheeks as bright as peaches for the moment. So she headed on her merry way. Which left our pair with Caspar for the moment.

“Need anything?” the professor remarked and got a shrug in return. Onward then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Pants' is british slang for underwear. Yes. And to answer the question of what are pants called there, 'trousers'. Which personally, I would switch around. but that's just me.
> 
> Outside of that, pretty painless chapter. Especially since most of it was written in a day. More or less.
> 
> Next time, we drop off a sign-up sheet and head for the front of the school. Oh boy.


	3. A view of the stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finish off the free time from hell. Thank god.

I don't own fire emblem.

* * *

Thankfully, the walk back to the church part of the monastery was surprisingly quick. Even for the standards of our heroines. I guess they used up all their encounters earlier. Hopefully. Never can be sure when it comes to that.

This time, the gate didn’t slam into them. Which I guess is progress to some extent for what I can only hope is an isolated incident and not worse - the start of a cruddy running gag that happens with no real explanation.

“Here’s your sheet.” Byleth explained and handed over the sheet to the choir instructor. Which begs the question of why Manuela isn’t helping in the first place. She would be perfect for such a role. Maybe. Haven’t seen enough of her to really tell.

“Would you like to do some choir practice?”

Byleth froze, only for Dorothea and Mercedes to walk on up. Quite a pair to show up. Especially since one of them was heading in the exact opposite direction at the moment. I guess they both heard the possibility of some singing and went to check it out? Yeah, has to be it.

“Uh… Sure.” Byleth remarked, finding herself get pulled along. She shot Sothis a glance, but it would seem that she wasn’t looking so happy.

“Mrgrgr…” Sothis muttered, closing the lid of the 3DS. What was with that thief dude being such a pain? Sure, she was still playing on ‘Hard’ for the moment, Even if the only difference is the difficulty of the foes themselves. So the child focused on the little show on full effect here. She could see why someone like her guardian would be so interested in Dorothea. She had a voice of an angel and a throwing arm of a demon.

Quite a combination in the right circumstances. In this moment, it looked as if the opera singer was holding back to an extent. As if not to let her voice overpower her companions to an extent.

**Your bond has strengthened and you gain faith experience!**

“Go away, you stupid pop-up!” Byleth announced, gaze now focusing in on the float bar of text. Dorothea and Mercedes were doing the same, though they had gone the path of digging out a stone of their own and chucking it at this strange target. While damage was definitely done, it was not enough to dispel the words. So they waited.

After a couple of seconds, the letters faded away. The trio let out a sigh of relief, with Dorothea and Mercedes heading off in separate directions.

Which leaves just Byleth and Sothis alone once more. Map coming out once more, we seem to be off to the mess hall. Again. 

This time, our heroines are actually going in. Took them long enough.

"Professor!"

Turning around, Byleth found herself face-to-face with a red-haired man. Dressed in the academy uniform, he had that look to him. The sort that Laslow. Peri would put him in his place, especially when he was coming down on Mozu. She already had enough problems without the romantic lines with a consistency of a dead fish. Oh. My wife just told me that I didn't need to remind her. Sorry dear. Not my intention. Guess Laslow saw something in Peri then up and walked out on her. So she tracked him back down and dragged his ass back to Nohr. Which to be fair, he probably should've told her that he wasn't from Nohr in the first place. Oops.

Back with our heroine, she was waiting for the inevitable response.

"Do you need something from me?" Byleth inquired, a smile forming on the man's face. So she took a step back, hand on her sword. Just in case.

“I’m Sylvain.” the man explained, flashing his perfect white smile towards Byleth. Looks kind of artificial. Definitely don’t trust him. “Can I just your house?”

Wait. What? You can just walk up to a house’s teacher and just ask nicely? I get that this school has no clue how the fuck to run a school but this is just silly. Sure, the nobles of Hoshido and Nohr had to be convinced to join Corrin and Azura, but that involved a bunch of logistics and counterintelligence on top of just scheduling the transfer of troops in the first place. This flies in the fact of all logic! What kind of peo-

Mozu here. Nyx needed to take a break. So you get me narrating what is hopefully the last part of this freetime. Yes, we’re ready to be done as much as you.

Back with Byleth, she just shook her head.

“Not interested.” the professor explained, heading over to the old lady manning the side counter. Sylvain just stared. His plan had been foolproof. Foolproof! How the hell had it failed? One can only wonder why. “Need me to do anything?”

The old lady just chuckled and focusing on Byleth for the moment. Then a deep breath. What’s it going to be this time? “More books.”

Oh. That’s nice, I guess. Was kind of hoping for something else. But whatever works for you. I guess Claude stole some more then? 

Byleth let out a sigh, grabbing Sothis in the process. After the strange encounter with Sylvain, it was probably best to keep her close. That way, he was unable to do anything rash. Probably for the best in this moment 

“Mgrgrgrgr…” she muttered, drones already coming down as Sylvain looked their way. “Your first mistake was assuming that we know you.”

With that, the drones grabbed hold and our pair was on their merry way. Thankfully, Sylvain didn’t follow them to the library. Which looked exactly the same as the last time they had needed to come here. Okay, Linhardt was here. Slumbering in a book. Might want to get that checked out. Maybe go to bed earlier. Anything to keep a good sleep schedule.

As for the books they needed, those had been thrown about. Nor was there any sign of the librarian.

“Why hello there, prey.”

Turning around, we come upon a kind old man. With a large knife. Yeah. I take that first part back. He’s probably evil or something.

“Hi?” Byleth greeted, hand back on her sword. Mind you, her current sword. Not the one that she stole from some tomb. That would be suspicious and nefarious or something.

“I’m Tomas.” the man explained, heading off to the corner to I don’t know, scheme. Which just leaves the task of scooping up the books and ignoring this strange man’s gaze. A task that was surprisingly easy in this situation. “Have a pleasant day!”

Sure they will. If not for the fact that the day is almost over and stuff. Just need to get the tactics primer and all will be good.

“Just a little bit more.” Byleth thought, exiting the library and heading for the hallway. Sothis followed right behind. Thankfully, her father had left it right on the floor.

“I’m guessing that’s the last task you needed to complete?” Sothis inquired, getting a nod from her guardian in return as they headed back to the dining hall. There, Byleth deposited the books and gave little in the way of eye contact to Sylvain.

“I’ll try out self cooking some other day.” the professor explained, more than ready to end this day. Pulling out the map one more time, they were off to their personal apartment. “Uh… why is all our furniture littering the lawn?”

If I have to take a guess, that would be Claude.

Back on solid ground, Byleth muttered something to herself. It was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad to have this in the books. 
> 
> As for Sylvain, partially personal preference and just wishing to focus on the Black Eagles and a couple other characters for the moment.
> 
> Next up, we have a lecture and a battle. Maybe in that order.

**Author's Note:**

> Byleth has the sword of the creator. Yes, that's going to matter later down the line in regards to certain things.
> 
> Stuff like relationships will be marked as they come in. This just keeps things interesting. That's all.
> 
> Next up, Alois and some singing. Surely, it can't be that hard to start a choir. Right?


End file.
